This morning, KF and I woke up early to prepare breakfast for the whole group. By group, I meant me, KF, his brother PK, and his cousin HF. We made ciabatta rolls with eggs and guacamole spread. KF had his own special way to make the roll so it’s nicely buttered and toasted on the pan. The roll was so delicious and was best when served right away!
By 9:45 AM, we were out of the house and on our way to Camelback Ski Resort for the ski trip. The place was super crowded and we had to spend 15 minutes to find a parking spot. When we got inside, we had to be in line for even longer to rent helmets, boots, and ski equipment. Despite the long wait time, this place was really great IMO because it was well-organized and well-equipped with high-quality accessories. We had no issues with finding the right sizes or equipment at all!
OK! So when we were all set for clothing, we headed outside to start skiing. It was beautiful outside today, around 40s F, so wearing 3 layers and a thick jacket on top was not the best idea, to begin with. I was already sweating by the time I dragged my ski shoes up towards the small slope, just to get into another long line for the cable car. When we got the cable car, I was extremely surprised by how unsafe it is because we basically just sat on a hanging cabin, without any obligated seatbelt in place. At the highest point, we were about 12 feet above the ground. Quite scary for a first-timer like me! Still, I braced myself to take this video. Make sure to turn the volume up if you would like to hear my joyful yet terrified voice!
When we finally arrived at the top of the slope, which I later learned that was the 2nd easiest one, I was filled with joy. However, my shock quickly overshadowed my happiness because I couldn’t even manage to slide down the cable car, not to mention ski down that crazily tall hill in front of me. Worse, for every 2 minutes of walking, I would fall to the snowy ground and take another 10 minutes to try to get up. My extra long ski feet were not very balanceable. I really can’t imagine myself waking up having actual ski feet, I think I would rather lay in bed all day instead. I remember there was a point in which I was so frustrated that I took my ski shoes off, only to realize that putting them on in the middle of a slanted surface was even worse. KF helped me a lot, and so as some other experienced people, just enough so that I didn’t give up on myself. When I felt better about standing up, I started skiing down, which was more like sliding down and stumbling. I learned first thing that it was safe to fall towards the mountain and that I should be comfortable about falling anytime I wanted to. After an hour of struggle, I finally skied down that bunny hill. Then, KF told me to try again. Of course, I took another hour and couldn’t control my speed or my direction at all. I tried my best and every factor was against me, so to this point, I just wanted to lay down and call it a day.
KF knew that I needed something easier to overcome this fear of speed and motion control, so he took PK’s advice and went with me to the super beginner slope. Cool. Maybe I could give it another try. This time, I also set a goal to not fall. So I stood from the top of the tiny slope and started going down. I slid and I slide and I slide, and… I did it. All I had to do was form a pizza shape with my feet! This increased friction and helped me ski down the slope with confidence and allowed me to control my speed as well as my direction. With joy, I tried one more time and I did it again!
Great! Now I just have to do the same exact technique, but at the slope that I started with. I set the same goal for myself as before – do not fall. Of course, it wasn’t magic in movies where the protagonist suddenly finds their talent and masters the lesson. I still fell a couple of times, except that I got up a lot faster and I really felt like I could do it again, again, and again. My confidence got boosted by like 10 times and after conquering this slope twice, I finally felt ready for a more difficult challenge!
With that being said, KF and I headed to the green mountain, which was supposed to double the difficulty of the previous slope because we were now a full mountain away from the bottom instead of half like before! When we got to the cable point, the sign said beginner slope unavailable; meaning that only the upper beginner slope and above were open. I freaked out. I thought to myself that there was no way I could do this. However, KF told me that it was too late to back out and that he was so sure I could do it, as long as we ate a granola bar first! I took his advice again, as blindly as I had always been. Then, I went down the slope and pizza-ed my feet all the freaking time. I got down there and my knees were destroyed by the time I got to the end, but OMG it was the bestest feeling ever. I just skied down a whole mountain and fell 2 times but that was absolutely NOTHING! After that, we did it again and again! It was so much fun! At the very final time, we had PF and HF with us, they fell a couple of times and didn’t fancy the slope as much as I did. However, it was the smoothest ride ever for me and I was so proud of myself!
Looking back, I could 100% say that my first time skiing, I successfully skied down a green slope only after a few hours of KF’s free lesson. I was brave myself, but I think KF’s teaching was even more impressive. So KF if you ever get to read this, I want to say thanks to you and hug you as many times as I dared to ski down today!
After our ski day, we went to Bethlehem and ate Taiwanese hotpot. HF inhaled his beef hotpot; KF and his brother also finished everything they had, plus a dessert. I myself tried hard, but still had some leftovers to bring home. Then, we all headed back and felt super duper tired and sore. What a day!
Trang "Tee" Nguyen 